Martial artist Hwang Jang Lee died in Seoul at 81. He played Jackie Chan’s rival in Drunken Master.
Hwang Jang Lee, the Korean martial artist and actor best known as Jackie Chan’s rival in the 1978 film Drunken Master, has died at 81. Kim Jin-yong, former chair of the Hwang Jang-lee World Martial Arts Federation, said on Instagram that Hwang died Thursday at a Seoul hospital. The cause of death has not been publicly disclosed.
Hwang began studying Taekwondo at 14 and later became a ninth-dan grandmaster in both Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do. Before entering films, he served as a martial arts instructor for the South Korean and South Vietnamese armies during the Vietnam War. His film career took off in 1976, when Hong Kong producer Ng See-yuen cast him as the villainous Silver Fox in The Secret Rivals.
His best-known roles came in 1978, as Thunderleg in Drunken Master and as Sheng Kuan in Jackie Chan’s Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow. City on Fire wrote that the two films helped launch Chan to international stardom and described Hwang as one of the most recognizable villains in martial arts cinema. Fans nicknamed him the “King of the Leg Fighters.”
Korean media reported that Hwang appeared in more than 340 films over about three decades, moving between Korea and Hong Kong. His credits include The Invincible Armour, Buddha Assassinator, Game of Death II, Ninja in the Dragon’s Den and Millionaires’ Express. He also directed films and served as fight choreographer on the 1995 SBS drama Sandglass.
Later in life, Hwang served as president of the Hwang Jang-lee World Martial Arts Federation and as an ambassador for the Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters. A funeral chapel has been set up at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, and the funeral will be held at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15.
This report draws on City on Fire and The Kyunghyang Shinmun.
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